THE PSYCHO-SOCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF CAR GUARDS: INTERVENTIVE ROLES OF THE SOCIAL WORKER

In South Africa unemployment is a major problem and many people are desperate to make an earnest living and are prepared to do any job as long as it brings in enough money for a roof over their heads and food on the table. Crime has become a major social problem within the South African society and motor vehicle thefts and car burglaries are high on the list of crime statistics. Police and security protection services are unable to keep guard over all the parking areas and informal car guards did not provide the answer. To address this problem, car watch organisations were introduced in the city centers. Social workers should identify those people who are especially vulnerable, including car guards, and ensure that their abilities and potential are developed and strengthened. The objective of the research project was to study the survival skills of car guards relating to their economic and social circumstances. The phenomena of difficult customers, dangerous and harsh working conditions, and poor remuneration were investigated. A qualitative study accompanied by a phenomenological research design was implemented for the study. Field research and specifically in-depth personal interviewing and naturalistic observation were used as research procedures

THE SPENDING PATTERNS OF THE OLD-AGE PENSION BY THE FRAIL ELDERLY

A specific old-age home in a semi-urban area of South Africa delivers certain communityoutreach services besides the services to the inmates of the old-age home. A team of registerednurses have been delivering these home-care services since 2002, including physical care, ameal service and a transport service to clinics and hospitals. The profile of the elderly personsliving in this specific community shows that they are mostly women, black and very poor.While rendering services to the aged persons in the community, staff members realised thatespecially the frail aged have very little finances to spend on their own keeping, although theyall receive an old-age pension. This raised the question of possible neglect and financial abuseby their caregivers and other people, which in turn led to this specific research project. Thisarticle reports on an attempt to investigate the housing circumstances and the financial positionof the participants, as well as determining whether they could account for their expenditure, theitems that the pension was spent on, the point of payment of the pension, the accompanyingperson and the manner in which withdrawal of money took place. Furthermore, theinvestigation included whether participants cared for children, topics of interest forgrandparents caring for children, and the physical appearance of participant

HIV/AIDS AND SOUTH AFRICAN ADOLESCENTS: ATTITUDES AND INFORMATION NEEDS

HIV/AIDS is by far the most serious health hazard of our time and by far the biggest current crisis in South Africa. Prevention of the disease by way of communicating correct knowledge and information, in order to change individuals’ and communities’ attitudes and sexual behaviour, is of vital importance. This exploratory study utilised qualitative and quantitative methodology. A purposive, non-probability sampling technique was used to administer questionnaires to a sample of adolescents throughout the North West Province.The aim of the study was to assess attitudes and needs of information of high school pupils on various aspects of HIV/AIDS in order to draw up recommendations for a prospective programme to educate adolescents and to influence their attitudes towards HIV/AIDS. It was found that adolescents had an urgent need for more knowledge and information on sexuality and HIV/AIDS, that the idea of condoms has taken on with adolescents and that they have a fair to positive attitude on the problem.It is recommended that a programme be developed to educate adolescents about sexuality and HIV/AIDS in an objective and factual manner. Outsiders should be utilised to implement such a programme. Material and facilities like video’s, films, flip charts, books and posters, are indispensable in any such programme. It is vital to indigenise such a programme for use under South African circumstances. Not all schools have all the facilities to their disposal, and therefore the proposed programme should be adaptable to any circumstance

THE SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH MODULE(S) FROM A SOCIAL WELFARE PERSPECTIVE

A once-off qualitative questionnaire was sent via e-mail to the social work various traininginstitutions in South Africa. Various topics were covered in the empirical study and as far aspossible theoretical substantiation of the findings were integrated with the findings. Topicssuch as the views of the lecturers and the students on the importance of the research module(s),number of credits allotted to the research module(s), the level of presentation, thelimitations/challenges experienced in the operationalising of the research module(s), the linkbetween the theoretical and empirical parts of the module(s), the various study units, andwhether students do their research projects individually, in pairs or in groups were covered inthis questionnaire

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMME FOR CHILD-CARERS IN PRIVATE PLACES OF TEMPORARY SAFE-CARE

The article purpose of the article is to report on an empowerment programme for child-carers in private places of temporary safe-care so as to equip them with skills to act in the best interest of the children in their care. The programme was compiled on the basis of a needs assessment with child-care workers and social workers involved in private places of temporary safe-care, as well as a literature study. The programme consisted of nine sessions, including topics such as factors to be considered when dealing with these children, trauma, medical care, behavioural problems, bonding, discipline,  natural parents and self-care of child-carers

THE ROLE OF THE SOCIAL WORKER TO EMPOWER FAMILIES IN A DEEP RURAL COMMUNITY

A research study was conducted at Heuningvlei near Vryburg in the Northern Cape Province ofSouth Africa during 2006. The study was called “Tshwaragano”, meaning togetherness, andwas sponsored by the National Research Foundation. The research focused on health issues andpoverty, and was undertaken to determine their effect on families in rural areas. Seven master’sstudents and two PhD students were involved in the project. The master’s students did a needsassessment with their specific aim in mind and developed guidelines. The PhD students usedthis needs assessment of the first phase to compile their social work group-work programmes toempower the families of Heuningvlei and to enhance their quality of life. This article reports ona section of the research which examined the living conditions and income of the households,and the causes and effects of poverty and unemployment. Aspects such as crime, violence andmarital conflict received attention. Because the strengths approach was used in this study, thestrengths of the families were investigated. Finally, the roles of the social worker to implementpreventive and treatment strategies in the community were discussed

INTRODUCING LIFE MAPS AS TECHNIQUE IN A SOCIAL GROUP WORK PROGRAMME FOR YOUNG ADULTS LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS

The first literature regarding life maps was found in a philosophy textbook dated 1909. The focus of this book was the individual’s life (the map of life) and the correlation with happiness and contentment throughout one’s life span. This book indicated many links with life maps as described in this study. The following interesting topics (Lecky, 1909) are worth mentioning: Happiness is a condition of the mind; Contentment and the desire for progress and self-growth should be balanced; Life actions should be guided; There is an ending to life – namely death.The map of life could describe one’s being from birth to death, emphasising different events, people, attitudes, choices, problems/difficulties and biological processe

A FIELD TRIP AS PART OF THE SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH MODULE

This study focused on the value of a field excursion for final-year Social Work students as part of the research module with the aim of integrating the theory and practice of research. Students were expected to do unstructured interviewing with older persons in a deep rural community, with the main focus of the study being on the impressions and experiences of the students. Seven main themes were delineated in this study according to narratives given by participants, namely Social Work and research, feelings of the researcher, knowledge of the self, resilience, infrastructure, challenges facing the community and future perspectives

QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF AN EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMME FOR COMMUNITY CAREGIVERS TO FACILITATE HIV AND AIDS PATIENTS’ ADHERENCE TO ANTIRETROVIRAL TREATMENT

This study is based on Intervention Research, where initially a literature study and a needs assessment of community caregivers regarding the content of an empowerment programme for caregivers to facilitate HIV and AIDS patients’ adherence to antiretroviral treatment, were undertaken. From these results an empowerment programme for caregivers was developed. In this article the evaluation of the programme will be reported on by means of quantitative measurement. An experimental design was utilised with both groups comprising of 12 caregivers with a pre-test, post-test and post-post-test. The results of the measurement indicated that the community caregivers were empowered and that such an empowerment programme is needed.KEY WORDS: Evaluation, quantitative, psychosocial functioning, empowerment programme, community caregivers, HIV and AIDS, adherence, antiretroviral treatment.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/tbb.v82i1.195

THE EXPERIENCES OF PREGNANT WOMEN WHO REQUEST AN ABORTION

Pregnancy is a complex part of being a woman – it encompasses sexuality, a relationship,confrontation with contraception, the realisation of being pregnant, decisions and consequences(McCulloch, 1996:25). Mogano (1999:10) and Zimmerman (1997:15) agree that the discoveryof an unwanted pregnancy evokes a variety of feelings in the woman, which lead to emotionalturmoil. Feelings that are experienced range from ambivalence, surprise, happiness aboutfertility, fear of foetal abnormality, fear of birth, joy over motherhood, anger, feelings of guilt,confusion and shame, to anxiety about the social, economic, educational and emotionalconsequences of the pregnancy